Record roster of BC foals

A record 15,850 foals were nominated to the Breeders' Cup program in 2004, Breeders' Cup Ltd. announced Thursday. The figure tops the old mark of 15,786 foals nominated in 2000. The 2004 total also is a 5.7 percent increase from 2003. The results do not include Southern Hemisphere foals, which have an April 15 nomination deadline.

Revenue of $8,016,000 was generated by last year's crop, the most since the nomination process began in 1982.

Nominations have increased since the abatement of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, which hit Kentucky farms in the spring of 2001. The number of Kentucky foals nominated to the program in 2004 was 8,108, up 12.7 percent from the 7,193 Kentucky foals nominated the previous year.